The River Mists Of Talry (The Spellmonger #1.1)

Before the dramatic events at the Battle of Timberwatch - as told in Warmage - Tyndal of Boval was on a secret mission: to take Master's intended (and expecting) bride to his hometown to live with his family until he returned from the war, and then protect her in the unlikely event that the sinister Royal Censorate of Magic would find them . . . and use them as leverage against Master Minalan the Spellmonger.

Tyndal is out of his element - just barely a mage, he's far more adept with a pitchfork than a wand. But then the gods never asked his opinion, and he sets to his task with the determination of a mountain-born lad. And the attractive daughter of a local innkeeper persists in distracting him from his charge, an attention that Tyndal desires even as he recognizes the danger of such an entanglement.

What's a young apprentice mage to do . . . especially when the worst of his fears are realized, and the checkered cloaks of the Censorate warmagi appear on the docks of Talry. Then Tyndal's only hope to save his master's bride and his family - not to mention his own life - is to trust in the River Mists of Talry!